Finance and Insurance Market: Underwriting Fees Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateBaroness Kingsmill
Main Page: Baroness Kingsmill (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness Kingsmill's debates with the HM Treasury
(13 years, 7 months ago)
Lords ChamberMy Lords, as I have already said, it is expected that the Office of Fair Trading will report later this month, so we do not have long to wait. We should consider what the appropriate action is to take after my ministerial colleagues have had a chance to consider the recommendations of the OFT report. However, I hear what my noble friend says.
My Lords, I wonder whether the Minister is aware that when I was deputy chairman of the Competition Commission I conducted an inquiry into precisely this issue. This marketplace is notoriously uncompetitive and it is only as a result of constant vigilance that we can keep everyone on the straight and narrow in this area. I hope very much that the Minister will agree with me that the Competition Commission is possibly the best place to resolve these issues and that it will do so—
I have asked a question. Does the Minister agree with me that it will do so by the best possible method; that is, by conducting the inquiry with a panel of peers?
My Lords, I am obviously interested to hear from the noble Baroness who has great experience in these matters. However, as she well knows, a range of outcomes could emerge from the OFT market study. Those could include enforcement action taken by the OFT through a market investigation reference to the Competition Commission, recommendations to government to change law or regulation, voluntary action by industry players or, indeed, a clean bill of health. We should wait to see what the OFT recommends.